Paulinho says goodbye to his Guangzhou team-mates

Paulinho's time in China is coming to an end. Barcelona are set to pay his €40m release clause after weeks of wrangling and the 'Paulinho saga' will soon be over. So soon in fact, that the player has already started to say his goodbyes.

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Guangzhou Evergrande midfielder Boxuan Feng has uploaded a photo of himself and Paulinho to his personal Instagram acocunt accompanied by the message "good luck my friend" as the Brazilian edges closer and closer to his move to Barca. The post can be seen above.

Paulinho is set to pack his bags and head for Catalonia imminently according to Spanish publication 'Mundo Deportivo'.

Neither club has confirmed the deal yet but it is believed to be as good as completed, with confirmation expected as early as tomorrow. The aforementioned source claims that the player will undergo a medical tomorrow before signing on the dotted line.

In order to join the Catalan giants, the former Tottenham man has even taken a pay cut, with his salary dropping from €18m per year in China to €9m per year in Spain.

Barca are understood to be planning some serious signings as they look to reinforce their squad and it appears that the first new face through the door will be that of Paulinho. With Guangzhou already planning for life without their star.